Thursday, February 2, 2017, 10:35 AM

John Garziglia in Radio Ink: Are You Liable If Your Station is Hacked?

This week, a South
Carolina radio station’s listeners were surprised to find their regular
programming interrupted by a political song with obscene lyrics. A hacker (from
IP addresses in Russia and Taiwan) broke into Sunny 107.9’s transmitter and
looped in the objectionable song.

While station officials
certainly didn’t intend for this song to air, can the FCC still hold them
liable? Womble Carlyle Telecom attorney John Garziglia
addresses this question in a new column for Radio
Ink.

Garziglia said the
station is under no obligation to inform the FCC. However, a listener complaint
still may subject the station to a $350,000 FCC fine.

"At the risk of delving
too deeply into the subject, no one has any idea what will be the FCC’s stance
under the new Chairman on indecency,” Garziglia writes. In recent years, he
said the FCC has been inconsistent in its handling of on-air profanity.

He adds, “These hacking
incidents are a good reminder to confirm that your errors and omissions
insurance policy covers potential fines and defense costs should an FCC
indecency complaint be filed. Also, please confirm that your internet connected
device password is not ‘password’”.